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Kozue gave a sigh of relief, upon the customers helping further extinguish his fears. Given his recent "infractions" as his boss called him, he was already on thin ice. And the actual leg work of landing a job was super tedious and annoying. But unfortunately, his heroics weren't actually bringing in the money. Not yet anyways. Now, at little more at ease, Kozue quickly finished his soldering, as the customer placed the candy bars atop the counter. Kozue had a steady hand, gained from years of experience. His work was very much a passion project. It didn't matter what exactly he was making, but it was the actual practice of making it that gave Kozue the most. This mindset led to Kozue to pause, a bit baffled by the customer's question.
[break][break]
Kozue put a lot into whatever he made. Whether it be repairing his mom's broken toaster, or building a new gadget for his vigilante work, Kozue cared a lot for his creations. He poured his heart and soul into everything he worked on. So why would he give those creations away? They were his after all. "Um, I mean. I dunno. I don't wanna start hating it. Working sucks and like, to be honest, I love building shit like this. Like, I'm gonna hate this job no matter what. Why start hating the fun shit?" And besides, he was gonna make it big from his heroics. He didn't care much about the fame, but he could make enough to support himself and his mom. Plus, he would be helping people. His mind was pretty much made up on that.
[break][break]
"Okay, that'll be 218 yen." Kozue quickly rung in the two chocolate bars, as he still had to do his job. Upon hearing the mention of his dancing, Kozue's face turned bright red. "Please don't remind me. I can get uh, carried away." Glancing at the customer's eyes looking toward the custom audio jack, Kozue quickly added. "That's also one of the reasons I don't want him checking cameras." It was a mostly minor modification, with a bit of rewiring. As long as he was smart when he used it, and took the time to keep it hidden, it wasn't something his boss would notice. If this customer had been a manager, Kozue have been fired for sure.

[attr="class","header"]Working Late

[attr="class","body"]In a moment of panic, with the customer service smile still stuck on his face, Kozue did his best to shuffle everything behind his arms. As he repositioned his arm to hide more of the evidence, he nudged the cash register. Atop sat his phone, somewhat precariously, with what looked to be the rough adapter Kozue had made. The phone lost it's balance due to Kozue's influence. As it began to fall, Kozue reacted, snagging the cord connecting the phone's adapter. The phone came loose, hitting the floor with a smack as Kozue felt a sharp shock from the wire he was holding. "Fuck, shit." Kozue quickly ducked down below the counter, picking up his now cracked phone from the ground.

"Please don't tell him. I do not want to give him reason to start checking cameras." Kozue's head popped up from behind the counter, shuffling a section of his glove project out of the way to make space on the counter in case the customer needed to check out. He glanced at the phone still in his hand, turning it on to make sure it still worked. It did, so he slipped the phone in his pockets, feeling a bit relieved. "Like he already times my bathroom breaks when he's here. Dude's a literal psycho." Kozue looked up, getting a proper look at the customer in front of him. He didn't seem like the type to turn out to be a Karen. By now, the customer service smile on Kozue's face was gone, replaced with a more relaxed one.

Taking a second, Kozue began to clean up the counter, mostly stuffing everything into the bag that he kept behind the counter. Everything aside from his soldering iron and the glove. He still wanted to finish the task he had started, or at least finish connecting everything. In theory, the prototype of the glove was almost done, and he didn't want to waste any progress by haphazardly tossing it into the bag, like he had done with everything else that had been piled on the counter. Most of the junk was bits and pieces, along with old electronics Kozue had salvaged from thrift stores and dumpsters. He didn't have a lot of cash to actually spend on parts, so he had gotten somewhat proficient in scavenging for his own. It had always just been like that for Kozue growing up. A part of his norm.

Glancing up, he noticed the bulky headphone hanging off the customer's neck. Having been a bit distracted during the customer's arrival, he fully hadn't noticed the electropop playing from them. Given the headphones, Kozue felt confident that this person would go about ratting him out. A fellow music fan wouldn't stoop so low to stop someone else from jamming. It was just messed up. "Nice tunes." Kozue added, pointing a finger toward the headphones hanging around the customer's neck.

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[attr="class","excerpt-header"]Kozue Yoshi

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Kozue did his best to keep Waterfall covered as she moved toward the feathers. The aluminum bat he held in his hands was now twisted and warped. Bringing it the back end of the bat into the head of the closest ant. Letting the bat go, Kozue began to swing his fists. Punching down and low, trying his best to keep up the defense of the duo up. He could feel himself growing more worn, but he couldn't really slow down. "Shit. Come on. Keep pushing." Kozue mumbled to himself, through gritted teeth. He could feel his rage surging up inside him. He just had to stay focused on the task at hand, and the waves of mindless ants surrounding him.
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With the spikes covering the bird general, Kozue held off on putting in into a grapple, as it somewhat crash landed, singed from Raiden's blast. Plus, with the ants around around them, he wasn't sure he could afford to leave Waterfall without cover. Shit, his own situation felt like it was getting worse. As the bird thing gave an angry taunt as it ran toward Noa. And with the Wyrm positioning itself between them and Raiden, the bird had the cover to avoid another lighting blast. With Kozue's building rage now having a target, Kozue's hands shot up, drawing his last bat. The heat building up in his hands began to focus on the bat, with it gaining a faint red glow. Kozue was silent. With clenched teeth, Kozue swung down the bat with both hands toward the bird once it reach within range. He job was to defend Waterfall, and by hell he was going to do it.
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His main goal was simply to buy more time, as Noa poured down water all around them. He didn't follow through with extra attacks on the bird thing. Just enough to keep it back. Ants, birds, Kozue didn't care what was being thrown at them, he'd throw himself in front of whoever and start swinging to give support. It was only thing he could felt he could contribute. Luckily,. as the rain drizzled around them, both he and Waterfall stayed dry. A pretty unique application of whatever quirk Waterfall had. Kozue wasn't sure he'd think of a strategy like this.

TL;DR[break]

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[attr="class","header"]The Champ

[attr="class","body"]In the bustling streets of Shibuya, a small commotion could be heard coming from inside from one of the many arcades in the ward. On an off street, just a bit south from Shibuya Crossing, sat a small arcade hosting a number of old school arcade games, with most only costing a hundred yen coin. The arcade was small, and mostly run down. Usually, the place was pretty quiet, hosting only a few regulars and high school kids who thought it was a fun place to smoke cigarette. But today a small crowd had begun to form, a tight knit group of people of maybe twenty bodies, all packed in the small arcade, with various people spilling out in the street. Voices spoke within the crowd, talking excitedly toward the event they were currently watching. "That's the thirtieth win in a row right?" One university aged man said, lit cigarette in his mouth. One of his friends who stood in front of him, with a better angle at the screen they were all trying to view spoke up. "I think it's only twenty nine. There was that kid who walked off halfway through the first round. That didn't count as a win.""Either way, that guy has some serious skills. Is he a pro or something?""Nah, he's just some guy."

The woman who had just lost, stood up sighing, stepping out of the way of the blonde high schooler who stepped forward to take her seat. The woman opened her purse, pulling out a 1,000 yen bill she handed to a cleft chin man who seemed to be running this little event. Before the group sat an old school fighting arcade game, complete with a joystick and six red buttons. The high schooler dropped a 100 yen coin into the slot, as the game's intro music began to play. Sitting adjacent from the new player sat a young man in a red and black jacket, sitting slumped in his seat. A look of boredom was slapped across his face. A man with the cleft chin placed a gentle hand on the kid's back, giving words of encouragement to the new player. "You know the rules. beat the champ for the jackpot." The man stepped back, with a sly grin on his face, as the game started.

As the game began, the red jacket player wasted no time, quickly catching the new player in a combo. This, was Kozue Yoshi who at this point was wondering what he was still doing here. Ever since he had moved to Tokyo, this little arcade had become one of his favorite hangout spots. It had cheap games, was usually pretty quiet, and had a number of pretty rare fighting games. A hidden gem where he could hang out for pretty cheap. The current game he was playing, Phantom Impact had probably become one of Kozue's favorite. The gameplay and characters were pretty fun, and when playing with someone else, the winner didn't have to pay to play another round, if they chose to play again within a minute or so after winning. So with the potential for unlimited replays, it had become on of Kozue's go to choices. And he had gotten pretty good at it. Something that another arcade regular had noticed.

Osamu Kusakabe was a local university student who often bummed around the arcade. Kozue had hung out with Osamu mostly by happenstance. The two would just happen tp run into other at the arcade, play some rounds, and then get some food or see a movie or something, usually on Osamu's dime. While Kozue considered him a friend, it was in very broad terms. The two hadn't even exchanged contact information. Today had been a similar situation, except this time, Osamu was hanging out with a good deal of his friends from university. Kozue was introduced to them by Osamu as "the guy" and the next thing Kozue knew, he was a part of this weird money making scheme.

The match flew by, with the new player being very much an amateur. That had been the norm unfortunately. The game was a bit niche, with a number of odd movement mechanics that gave the game a steep learning curve. There had been a few regulars who played a few rounds, along with a couple of Osamu's bodies, and those games were a bit more fun. But Osamu's friends who were looking to make part of the profits, would play a good game, only to throw near the end, to keep the win streak alive. The bigger it was, the more hype it built up. This whole scheme had been pitched for him playing a bunch of free games, which sounded fun. But honestly, this felt more like bullying newbies which wasn't something Kozue was a fan of. Plus, the growing crowd had left Kozue feeling uneasy.

As the second round game to a close, Kozue's screen flashed the YOU WIN! graphic. Kozue gave an exasperated sigh, before standing up and stepping back from the arcade machine. Osamu who was happily collecting another 1,000 yen bill, turned in surprise as Kozue's sudden movement. "Hey where ya going? Gotta take a leak?" Osamu asked, slipping the note in his pocket. "Nah man. I'm just gonna head home." Kozue gave a shrug, pulling his duffel bag off the ground, and slumping it over his shoulder. Osamu, now looking a bit nervous, sidestepped and slung an arm over Kozue's shoulder, before leaning in close. "Hey man. We got a good thing going here. If you're getting cold feet, I can cut ya a piece of the profits. Huh? How about that?" Osamu shot Kozue a wink, with a sly smirk on his face. Kozue felt a pang of dread in the pit of his stomach. Kozue pushed Osamu away, before taking a another step toward the crowded exit. "Nah, I got shit to do." Osamu's cocky grin fade, as Kozue turned away from him.

"What? Scared you're gonna lose in front of everyone? Is the little baby running home to his mama?"

As Osamu's words echoed out, Kozue snapped back around, shooting a fierce glare toward Osamu. "Watch what the FUCK you say Osamu. And keep her out your mouth." A thud followed Kozue's words, as his duffel fell to the ground, the strap Kozue had been holding it, having now been burn through. Kozue's left sleeve had caught flame, quickly burning up to reveal Kozue's bare arm, now glowing red and radiating heat. His hand was tightly clenched in a fist, a direct threat toward the now stunned Osamu. A tense silence fell over the crowd. A pervasive nervousness, that left Kozue feeling a bit awkward. The color and heat quickly faded, as Kozue quickly snagged his bag, with a quieter, "I'm out of here man." before squeezing himself out the exit, and onto the street, where he quickly began to walk away. As he did, he heard the quiet whispers, of people talking, probably talking shit about him.